Frustration Grows Over Inaction on Fire-Damaged Briscoes Site

• Invercargill Licensing Trust expresses frustration over council’s inaction regarding Dee Street containers.
• Mayor Clark acknowledges public concerns and suggests exploring a more appealing container solution.
• Council to assess costs of replacing containers with a well-lit, art-enhanced alternative.

The Invercargill Licensing Trust is becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of action by council regarding the unsightly containers on Dee Street outside the fire damaged Briscoes building.

Chief executive Chris Ramsay said, when contacted, that despite questions being asked repeatedly over the past year of the Invercargill City Council, there were still no clear answers about why they were still there.

“The containers are unsightly, unsafe and a blight on a CBD that has had hundreds of millions spent on it to make it more appealing for locals and visitors alike.

Are the containers actually necessary? There are plenty of buildings in the CBD with earthquake prone building notices on them that don’t require containers outside and are still able to be used by the public.

“Is the Briscoes building worse than these buildings? Do they actually know what the NBS % of the building is to justify the need for the containers?” he said.

Invercargill City Mayor Nobby Clark said he understood the frustration of the ILT and other retailers in that area of Dee Street, and agreed they discouraged foot traffic through that intersection.

“The fire damaged building is a complex issue. Our current legislation makes remedial action difficult due to the property rights of the owner and the heritage status of the building.”

But he said the council was yet to decide if the Briscoes building was a dangerous and unsanitary building, “and if the answer is yes and there is a danger potentially from falling parts of the building, then a container is justified.”

But he agreed if that was not the case then the containers should be removed.

Another issue and public perception was that a similar container safeguarded the public during recent inner city construction work. “It was welcoming, well lit and had art work inside.”

Mayor Clark has now questioned why that same approach was not taken around the Briscoes fire damaged building.

“The answer probably lies in the consent conditions for the inner city construction project. The council response may well be that their hands are tied by the current legislation.”

But he thinks there might be a solution.

“Council could replace the containers with a similar structure that was used during the inner city construction. It could be well lit, have clear panels, and art work.

“This of course comes at a cost to council but as Chris Ramsay reflects, we have spent over $150 million on reinvigorating the CBD, only for a blight to be on one of our arterial entries to the city.”

Mayor Clark said he would seek to find out the cost of an upgraded container system and put it to his councillor colleagues to gauge their support for the cost.

The council’s chief executive Michael Day was currently at the Local Government New Zealand conference and would respond early next week on his return.